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145759069534ET.Pdf Paper No. : 10 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Module : 34 Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Vijit Dipani Content Writer Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Prof. Subir Biswas, Department of Anthropology, West Content Reviewer Bengal State University, Barasat, West Bengal 1 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 10 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Module Name/Title Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont Module Id 34 2 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont Contents 1. Milton Singer 1.1 Cultural Role of South India 2. McKim Marriott 2.1 Universalization and Parochialization 2.2 Social Ranking 2.3 Social Mobility 3. Louis Dumont (1911-1998) 3.1 Study of the Caste system in India Learning Objectives: 1. To study the contribution of eminent anthropologists: Milton Singer McKim Marriott Louis Dumont 2. Life history of anthropologists 3. Theories and concepts emphasized/propounded by them 3 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont 1. Milton Singer Singer was born in a small village in Poland. He came to the United States with his family as a child and grew up in Detroit, where he attended public schools. He received his B.A. (1934) and his M.A. (1936) degrees from the University of Texas. He came to Chicago to study philosophy and obtained his Ph.D. (1940) degree from the University. Singer developed keen interest in philosophical, or semiotic, anthropology. He joined the University faculty in 1941 and worked with other faculty members (1941-1951) to develop a three-year, integrated program in social sciences for undergraduates. He received the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1948. Singer's research on India began when he helped direct an interdisciplinary project on the study of cultures and civilizations with Robert Redfield. Upon Redfield's death in 1958, Singer became project director, a position he held until 1961. Singer's fieldwork in India during the 1950s and 1960s allowed him to test the notion that India would not be able to advance economically because its people were too tied to their traditions of caste and Hindu spirituality. From 1955 to 1970, Singer helped organize and lead the Committee on Southern Asian Studies. Prominent scholars from South Asia as well as American researchers were invited to join the University faculty to expand the work done at Chicago on the region. In 1970, Singer expanded his work to include an anthropological approach to the study of American culture. His work in this area led to the publication of Man's Glassy Essence: Explorations in Semiotic Anthropology. Singer was named the Paul Klapper Professor in 1952. He held visiting professorships at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii, the University of Puerto Rico, and the University of California, San Diego. He became emeritus in 1979. In the following years, while continuing to develop semiotic analysis, Singer also initiated a broadly interdisciplinary project on culture and nuclear policy that addressed issues with far-reaching consequences for the future of humanity. Singer was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972. He was chosen to be the Distinguished Lecturer of the American Anthropological Association in 1978, and he received the Distinguished Scholar Award of the Association for Asian Studies in 1984. His important publications include Structure and Change in Indian Society (1958, (ed.)), when a Great Tradition Modernizes: An Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization (1972) and Traditional India: Structure and Change (1975). His other books include Man's Glassy Essence: Explorations in Semiotic Anthropology (1984) and Semiotics of Cities, Selves, and Cultures (1991). His edited book, Structure and Change in Indian Society (1958) throws light upon contemporary study of religious traditions in India. 1.1 Cultural Role of South India Singer studied the cultural role of Madras city in South India and tried to show as to how great traditions are transformed or modified in the light of little traditions. During a trip to Madras, India, he studied industrialists to learn how their careers had been affected by their culture. But the result suggested that industrial leaders and their families were able to successfully mobilise from village and small town to a large city and from agriculture and commerce to modern education and modern industry, without losing their traditional institutions. He even stated that these social institutions have often proved adaptive in modern industry. In his book, Traditional India: Structure and Change (1975), Singer introduced the concepts of cultural geography, cultural performance, cultural specialists and cultural media. These concepts (together form cultural complex) create an 4 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont interaction bridge between great and little tradition of Indian civilization. Inspired by the conceptual framework of Redfield and Singer, Professor L. P. Vidyarthi later conducted an exhaustive study of Sacred city of Gaya and developed the complex phenomenon of sacred complex (which includes sacred geography, sacred performances and sacred specialist). Tradition means handing down of beliefs, customs and information by word of mouth from one generation to another. Great tradition is associated with elites, literature and reflective few who are capable of analysing, interpreting and reflecting cultural knowledge. On the other hand, little tradition comprises belief pattern, the institutions, knowledge including folk tales, legends, myths and the folklore of the folk and peasant who inculcate cultural ideas from the great tradition. Cultural performances are institutionalized around the structure of both the great and little traditions. The area of great tradition includes the textual or the Shastriya nuances, while the paradigm of little tradition comprises folk/peasants and local orientations of textual knowledge and cultural performances. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are valuable religious texts developed in accordance to cultural performances. The local orientations of these religious texts have been written in local dialects for the folk/peasant people. In a village, the school teacher plays a vital role in progress of the little tradition. He plays several cultural performances and organises several mythological plays, dramas, recitation of sacred language which besides providing entertainment, help in enhancing and remembering beliefs and knowledge of little tradition. The two traditions are interdependent. As great traditions in India are tied to cultural elements, any change which occurs at an important centre triggers similar changes at other centres with time. Once the centre of the great tradition absorbs the reform, it causes some changes in the little tradition of its hinterland. Thus the process of change is top-down in Indian civilization. Milton Singer uses the term ‘hierarchic and low-culture’ to signify the dichotomy between the great and little traditions. 2. McKim Marriott McKim Marriott was a student of Robert Redfield, Chicago University. In 1955, he was appointed as Professor in the Department of Anthropology in Social Sciences Collegiate Division of the University of Chicago. He conducted field work in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and authored varied studies on rural social organization and change. Marriott used the structural-functional approach in his study of village India. His important works include -Village India: Studies in the Little Community (1955), Caste Ranking and Community Structure in the Five Regions of India and Pakistan (1960) and India through Hindu Categories (1990). Marriott utilized the structural-functional approach in his study of village India. Marriott had conducted some studies on social change in India utilizing this conceptual framework. He has made significant contribution to field of social anthropology. His major contributions are discussed below. 2.1 Universalization and Parochialization Mckim Marriott in his "Little Communities in an indigenous Civilization" propounded two important processes or concepts - universalization and parochialization. The interaction in the context of the indigenous village communities in India in relation to the civilization process was explained by Mckim Marriott in terms of parochialization and universalization of culture. He closely observed the socio-religious organization in 5 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Milton Singer Mckim Marriott, Dumont Kishangarhi village in Uttar Pradesh. He established these concepts on the basis of Great tradition and Little traditions concepts propounded by Robert Redfield. These two processes are complementary to each other. Universalization refers to downward devolution of elements of great tradition and their integration with elements of little tradition. Unlike Universalization, Parochialization is a process by which some literate or
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